Michael Dolan and five accomplices pounded untold hundreds of thousands of AOL users with fraudulent messages and phishing scams for between 2002 and 2006, pulling in more than $400,000 from at least 250 victims. Now, the 24-year-old Connecticut man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for his actions, along with three years of supervised release.
Dolan plead guilty to running the phishing scheme nearly a year ago. According to prosecutors, Dolan and his accomplices managed to infect thousands of AOL users’ systems with fake greeting-card malware that prevented them from logging into AOL unless they entered credit card and bank account info, along with other personal information. Dolan and his pals also spammed AOL users with notices claiming to be from AOL’s billing department, claiming that users needed to re-send their credit card and billing information.
Seven years in prison represents the maximum sentence Dolan could have received under the law. In court filings, Dolan’s attorney argued for a lighter sentence, saying his client suffered from mental illness and trauma following his father’s suicide. The prosecutors characterized Dolan as a hardened criminal who attempted to bribe a co-defendant and suborn perjury.
